淬火和退火对称三嵌段共聚物薄膜形貌和结构的Monte Carlo模拟

嵌段共聚物薄膜淬火形貌与初始化时嵌段共聚物熔体的状态相关,淬火得到的有序形貌有时存在缺陷,而退火则可以消除这些缺陷形成更规整的层状结构,且退火得到的嵌段共聚物分子的均方回转半径等都小于淬火得到的.与淬火比较,退火使高分子链充分松弛,增加了薄膜中有利于提高材料物理力学性能的桥键含量.不同于受限自由表面间的对称二嵌段共聚物首先在表面区域形成有序结构,三嵌段共聚物则在薄膜内部先形成有序的层状结构.     

表面场诱导线性三嵌段共聚物薄膜的微结构及其转变规律

采用实空间自洽场理论研究了ABC对称线性三嵌段共聚物薄膜的自组装结构及其转变规律.选取具有特定聚合物参数的对称线性三嵌段共聚物,对无修饰条纹和有修饰条纹的两类薄膜受限表面情况,通过调节其薄膜表面场强度和薄膜厚度,获得了一系列新颖的聚合物薄膜微结构.研究结果表明,在无修饰条纹的单一薄膜受限情况下,共聚物趋向于形成规整有序的层状或穿孔层状结构;而在有条纹修饰情况下,共聚物在相应的条纹修饰区域下发生微相分离并趋于形成水平柱状结构.     

分子量多分散性对AB二嵌段共聚物相行为的影响

采用Monte Carlo方法研究了分子量多分散性对AB型嵌段共聚物相行为的影响. 通过调整嵌段共聚物中组分含量, 考察了整体多分散性和单嵌段多分散性对嵌段共聚物共混物的有序-无序转变(Order-disorder transition, ODT)、 形貌及链尺寸的影响. 研究结果表明, 多分散度的增大使无序相向较大χN区域略微移动, 形成的片层结构厚度增加. 在形成微观有序形貌后, 较大分散度时各亚组分的链会得到更大的伸展, 表明分子链堆积受挫的程度减小, 因此, 涨落作用受到的抑制作用减小, 无序相区向更低温度区域移动.     

表面图案诱导两嵌段共聚物形成穿孔层状结构的模拟

利用耗散粒子动力学方法研究了两嵌段共聚物在表面圆形图案诱导下的相行为.通过调节圆形诱导图案的半径和嵌段共聚物薄膜的厚度,体系出现了非常丰富的穿孔层状相结构(PLS).经过区分将这些结构分为4类,并用PLS-Ⅰ,PLS-Ⅱ,PLS-Ⅲ,PLS-Ⅳ表示.绘制了这些结构与圆形图案半径和薄膜厚度关系的相图,并分析了这些结构出现的原因和规律,为设计和发展嵌段共聚物功能薄膜材料提供理论支持.     

棒-棒二嵌段共聚物自组装行为的自洽场研究

利用格子自洽场模型, 模拟了棒-棒二嵌段共聚物熔体系统的自组装行为, 并与线-棒二嵌段共聚物系统性质进行了对比. 结果表明, 棒-棒二嵌段共聚物系统的有序无序转变临界点低于线-棒二嵌段共聚物系统的相变临界点. 通过模拟计算, 发现薄层交叠柱状相、柱状相、层状相和Z形层状相4种稳定的有序形貌. 薄层交叠柱状相和柱状相仅在有序无序转变曲线的边缘位置出现, 层状相也仅存在于有序无序转变临界点上面的一小块区域内, 而稳定的Z形层状结构则占据了相图中较强相互作用的大部分区域.     

外加气流法制备微相结构有序的PS-b-PEO嵌段共聚物薄膜

采用原子转移自由基聚合(ATRP)的方法合成了聚苯乙烯-聚环氧乙烷(PS-b-PEO)嵌段共聚物,并利用核磁共振波谱(1H-NMR)、傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)以及凝胶渗透色谱法(GPC)对聚合物进行了表征.利用外加气流法制备了具有不同形貌的嵌段共聚物薄膜,并讨论聚合物分子组成、气流温度、气流速度以及不同基底对薄膜表面形貌以及内部结构的影响.当嵌段共聚物中聚苯乙烯嵌段的质量分数为83%~85%,气流温度为30~50℃,气流速度3~5 m/s时,有利于形成表面垂直柱状微相分离结构.当硅基底的接触角小于90°时,在合适的外加气流场作用下可以形成薄膜的表层和底层垂直有序而薄膜内部无序的非对称结构.     

受限薄膜中不对称两嵌段共聚高分子的微相形态

用强分凝理论方法研究了组分不对称(f≈0.25)的两嵌段共聚高分子在受限薄膜中的微相形态--层状相、平行柱状相和垂直柱状相.发现对中性基底,无论薄膜厚度为多少,垂直柱状相总是最稳定的相;而对亲少数相的基底,嵌段高分子的平均组成以及基底和两嵌段之间的相互作用能对薄膜体系的相行为有决定性影响.随着薄膜厚度的增加,层状相(包括奇数和偶数层数)、平行柱状相和垂直柱状相都有可能交替出现.     

聚苯乙烯-聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯两嵌段共聚物薄膜在丙酮蒸汽退火下的形貌演化

用敲击模式原子力显微镜研究了聚苯乙烯-聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(PS-b-PMMA)两嵌段共聚物薄膜形貌在丙酮蒸汽退火下随时间的演化过程.对于对称的嵌段共聚物薄膜(fPS≈fPMMA,fPS为PS-b-PMMA中PS的体积分数,fPMMA为PMMA的体积分数),通过控制膜厚和平衡态时相周期的比值可以使不同分子量的嵌段共聚物薄膜都实现由蠕虫状结构到孔洞再到条纹的形貌演化过程;对于非对称的嵌段共聚物薄膜,发现当聚苯乙烯组分含量较少(25%,36%)时,薄膜的形貌由无序态分别转变为规则排列的小球和直接转变为条纹结构;而当聚苯乙烯组分含量较多(70%)时,薄膜的形貌则由无序态转变为较平整的表面结构.我们对不同形貌的形成机理进行了详细的讨论.     

双刚性共轭嵌段共聚物体系的自组装

棒杆-棒杆(rod-rod)共轭嵌段共聚物体系是近几年发展起来的一类新型共轭聚合物材料,由于其特有的电学活性以及通过自组装实现纳米尺度结构可控等特性正逐渐成为人们研究的热点.构筑单元的刚性棒状结构使得rod-rod共轭嵌段共聚物体系倾向于自组装形成囊泡或层状结构等低曲率聚集体.本文总结了近年来关于rod-rod共轭嵌段共聚物体系自组装行为的研究,分别介绍了溶液中以及薄膜状态下双刚性共轭嵌段共聚物体系的自组装行为,在此基础上进一步讨论了rod-rod共轭嵌段共聚物薄膜结构与性能的关系.     

利用TDGL方法模拟嵌段共聚物链长和浓度对A/B/A-B三组分体系相形态演化的影响

从Flory-Huggins自由能出发,得到了适合TDGL模拟的自由能泛函.在自由能中保留了各序参量的耦合项,并且还保留了链长的信息.利用自由能中的链长的信息,模拟了不同嵌段共聚物链长以及不同浓度下体系的形态变化,在均聚物的链长和浓度确定的条件下,存在一个使体系的相区尺寸最小的最佳嵌段共聚物链长.同时,在嵌段共聚物和均聚物的链长都一定的情况下,研究了不同量的嵌段共聚物对体系相行为的影响,发现嵌段共聚物的浓度不同,体系的结构存在很大的区别.此外,如果均聚物A和B的浓度不同,其相区的结构也不同.     

Evaporation-induced Morphology Pattern of Triblock Copolymer A5B10C5 in Thin Film： a Multibody DPD Simulation Study

We used multibody dissipative particle dynamics method,by which the attractive and repulsive interactions can be effectively considered,to investigate the evaporation-induced morphology patterns of triblock copolymer A5B10C5 in thin film.With changing attractive interactions between solvent vapor and triblock copolymer that represent various selective solvents,lamellar morphology,sandwich lamellar morphology,spherical morphology and disorder morphology patterns of the thin films were obtained for both coil-coil-coil and rod-coil-coil chain architectures,respectively.The order parameter and the film thickness were calculated during the process for characterizing the film properties,and it was found that the rigid A-block of the triblock copolymer hinders the formation of an ordered structure.     

Supramolecular Complex of Poly(styrene)-b-Poly(4-vinylpyridine) and 1-Pyrenebutyric Acid in Thin Film

Summary: Here, we have described a novel supramolecular complex (SMC) between poly(styrene)-b-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) and 1-pyrenebutyric acid (PBA) and studied of its self assembly in thin film. PBA will make supramolecular complex with the P4VP block due to strong hydrogen bonding between the carboxylic group of 1-pyrenebutyric acid and pyridine ring of P4VP. The formation of supramolecular complex between PS-P4VP and PBA through hydrogen bonding is investigated through FTIR study. The supramolecular complex of PS-b-P4VP and 1-pyrenebutyric acid changed the block copolymer morphology from cylindrical to lamella in thin film due to the increase of the volume fraction of P4VP (PBA). In both cases (parent block copolymer and SMC), the microdomains are oriented normal to the substrate after annealing in a selective solvent. Pure block copolymer shows cylindrical morphology with a periodicity of ∼26 nm, whereas the SMC shows lamellar morphology with a periodicity of ∼ 29 nm. After fabricating the thin film from SMC, 1-pyrenebutyric acid can be easily removed by dissolving the thin film in ethanol to transform the block copolymer thin film into nanotemplate or membrane.     

Supramolecular structures from self-assembled poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate)-polydimethylsiloxane-poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate) triblock copolypeptides in thin films

We describe the self-assembly of A-B-A triblock copolymers in thin films composed of a soft polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) central block (B) and two polypeptidic (A) blocks, poly(γ-benzyl)-l-glutamate (PBLG). The PBLG segment exhibits depending on the chain length two distinct secondary conformations either a β-sheet or a α-helical conformation. The direct relationship between the surface morphology and the secondary conformation of the polypeptide segment has been evidenced by atomic force microscopy. For chain lengths below 20 U the polypeptide segments adopt preferentially a β-sheet secondary structure and the triblock copolymer self-assembled in fibers. Moreover, the fiber diameters increased with the chain length of the triblock copolymer. For chain lengths above 20, the α-helical structure is stabilized and a lamellar morphology is formed driven by rod-rod interactions in spite of the very asymmetric composition of the triblock copolymer. However, decreasing the film thickness from 25 to 8 nm, i.e., below the L/2 and due to the preferential attraction of the polypeptide block for the hydrophilic substrate employed, instead of a lamellar morphology a rod-like morphology could be found. Thus, the use of hybrid block copolymer containing polypeptides with particular secondary structures offers novel alternatives to control the self-assembly in thin films compared to traditional amorphous block copolymers.     

Selective control over the lamellar thickness of one domain in thin binary blends of block copolymer films

Thin binary blends of poly(styrene‐b‐methyl methacrylate) (PS‐PMMA) block copolymers in films where the lamellar thickness of one domain is controlled while preserving the thickness of the other domain were demonstrated without microphase separation. One of the block copolymers used here was short and symmetric, and the other was long and asymmetric; the molecular weights of the PMMA block chains in the constituents were similar. A random copolymer brush was introduced and film thickness and composition of brush were adjusted to induce perpendicular orientation in thin film. As the blend composition of the long asymmetric block copolymer increased, the PS lamellar thickness increased from 15.8 to 25.1 nm, whereas the PMMA lamellar thickness remained constant at approximately 14 nm (the thickness decreased slightly from 14.0 to 13.3 nm). The domain spacing behavior in thin film was consistent in the bulk. These results were compared with the Birshtein, Zhulina, and Lyatskaya model and the theories for pure block copolymers in the strong segregation limit and in the intermediate segregation regime. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2013, 51, 1393–1399     

SELF ASSEMBLY OF ABC TRIBLOCK COPOLYMER THIN FILMS ON A BRUSH-COATED SUBSTRATE

Self assemblies of ABC triblock copolymer thin films on a densely brush-coated substrate were investigated by using the self-consistent field theory.The middle block B and the coated polymer form one phase and the alternating phase A and phase C occur when the film is very thin either for the neutral or selective hard surface(which is opposite to the brushcoated substrate).The lamellar phase is stable on the hard surface when it is neutral and interestingly,the short block tends to stay on this hard surf...     

Preparation of Oriented Liquid‐Crystalline/Isotropic Block Copolymer Films with Parallel or Perpendicular Arrangement of Smectic Layers and Lamellar Microdomains

Films of a symmetric liquid‐crystalline/isotropic block copolymer consisting of a smectic LC side‐chain polymer and polystyrene were prepared by solvent casting from solution and from the isotropic melt. By annealing the solvent‐cast film in the S_A phase an oriented microphase‐separated film of lamellar morphology was obtained in which both the lamellae of the block copolymer and the smectic layers of the LC block were oriented parallel to the film surface. A lamellar morphology with perpendicular orientation of lamellae and smectic layers was generated by cooling the block copolymer from the melt.     

Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation on the placement of nanoparticles within symmetric diblock copolymers under shear flow

We present molecular dynamics simulations coupled with a dissipative particle dynamics thermostat to model and simulate the behavior of symmetric diblock copolymer/nanoparticle systems under simple shear flow. We consider two categories of nanoparticles, one with selective interactions toward one of the blocks of a model diblock copolymer and the other with nonselective interactions with both blocks. For the selective nanoparticles, we consider additional variants by changing the particle diameter and the particle-polymer interaction potential. The aim of our present study is to understand how the nanoparticles disperse in a block copolymer system under shear flow and how the presence of nanoparticles affects the rheology, structure, and flow behavior of block copolymer systems. We keep the volume fraction of nanoparticles low (0.1) to preserve lamellar morphology in the nanocomposite. Our results show that shear can have a pronounced effect on the location of nanoparticles in block copolymers and can therefore be used as another parameter to control nanocomposite self-assembly. In addition, we investigate the effect of nanoparticles on shear-induced lamellar transition from parallel to perpendicular orientation to further elucidate nanocomposite behavior under shear, which is an important tool to induce long-range order in self-assembling materials such as block copolymers.     

Simulated annealing study of asymmetric diblock copolymer thin films

We report a simulated annealing study of the morphology of asymmetric diblock copolymer thin films confined between two homogeneous and identical surfaces. We have focused on copolymers that form a gyroidal morphology in the bulk. The morphological dependence of the confined films on the film thickness and the surface-polymer interaction has been systematically investigated. From the simulations it is found that much richer morphologies can form for the gyroid-forming asymmetric diblock copolymer thin films, in contrast to the lamella-forming symmetric and cylinder-forming asymmetric diblock copolymer films. Multiple morphological transitions induced by changing the film thickness and polymer-surface interactions are observed.     

聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯-聚四氢呋喃嵌段共聚物微观结构的研究

我们用SAXS、TEM等方法研究了分子量分散性较大的PMMA-b-PTHF两嵌段共聚物的微相结构。试样的分子量多分散系数为1.99,PMMA的重量分数为0.48。实验结果表明,其平衡微相结构并不是层状微区,而是在尺寸上也具有一定分散性的球状微区,微区之间并未形成三维有序的大晶格结构,而是一种无规聚集结构。这和单分散两嵌段共聚物理论所预言的结果是不同的。     

聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯-聚四氢呋喃嵌段共聚物微观结构的研究

 我们用SAXS、TEM等方法研究了分子量分散性较大的PMMA-b-PTHF两嵌段共聚物的微相结构。试样的分子量多分散系数为1.99,PMMA的重量分数为0.48。实验结果表明,其平衡微相结构并不是层状微区,而是在尺寸上也具有一定分散性的球状微区,微区之间并未形成三维有序的大晶格结构,而是一种无规聚集结构。这和单分散两嵌段共聚物理论所预言的结果是不同的。